Viktor Haraszti / EQUANIMITY: A Futuristic Jazz Tale (December 2021 VIO music)

Viktor Haraszti is a Hungarian-born, Holland-based musician, sax player, multi- instrumentalist, producer, and sound engineer. Hitting his first notes behind the piano as a seven-year-old, he later picked up the clarinet at age 11. Seven years later, he got his first diploma at the famous Bela Bartok Conservatory in Budapest.

Influenced by a visit to Fats Domino's Budapest concert in the late '80s, the Rock & Roll set off his passion and inspired him to pick up the saxophone right after graduation. Learning the traditions of Rhythm & Blues and playing with different local bands helped him to develop his interest in jazz. Discovering Parker, Miles, and Coltrane's works while he was working at the music library made him set his direction in music. Fast forward to 2005 when he graduates cum laude at Utrecht Conservatory, the Netherlands. Traveling and working with international acts in Africa, Portugal, and Brazil, helped him to combine his roots and develop a multicultural insight into his works as a musician and composer.

In the latest years, Viktor created ViOmusic, his creative platform, and a future record label. In 2018, as a musician bandleader of ViO, he released four singles (EP) that were internationally well recognized as an innovative project. The EP was recorded live in virtual reality, ViO 360° LIVE, was a collaboration with renowned Dutch musicians, Remco van der Sluis (Jan Akkerman band) - drums, Taco Nieuwnhuizen - bass, Edgaar van Asselt (Jorge Vistel) - Key's. The project acclaimed 3rd place on the 7 Virtual Jazz Club Contest's social media round and received good international reviews.

Equanimity is a one-man project. Viktor took care of the compositions, performance, and production. The album transcends the experimental approach and conveys the repertory toward the electronic and futuristic style, with deep melodies combined with sonic elements, and progressive fusion of rhythms.

With renowned drummer Dave King (The Bad Plus) on board and the lyricist, singer/ songwriter Lisa Mari Simmons, Equanimity expresses the duality (chaos/surviving) in disordered times and unfolds a personal journey (chapter by chapter), to reach the climax and finally an enigmatic conclusion.

''Equanimity expresses my duality (chaos/surviving) in disordered times and unfolds a personal journey (chapter by chapter), to reach the climax and finally an enigmatic conclusion.'' (Viktor Haraszti)

Equanimity started as a feeling, not a song or an album concept. The year was 2019, away before the pandemic, and Viktor had a kind of vision of a man who was facing an extreme, catastrophic circumstance, without losing his mind, that feeling of being in balance caught him. He got fascinated by the question: How do we keep peace of mind when the world around us seems to be turned upside down? What kind of state of mind helps people to not give up (and go further)? Viktor thought that there was something to be discovered behind that vision, that feeling. His intuition told him: “it worth to investigate musically and visually your emotions around this view”.

Following his intuition, Viktor ended up in Belgium, precisely in Doel, a "lost" city. The feeling of a catastrophic circumstance led him to that empty city. Abandoned streets, ruins, and graffiti, a kind of apocalyptic atmosphere that translated his view into reality. That experience sounds to him like writing a book because he was exploring the location where he would place his plot. Every single detail in that city gave him the inputs to develop his research. However, the atmosphere was not captured by the words, but through the lens of the photo camera and the photoshoots done there. In this case, the photoshoot was the research. Those pictures turned into the CD cover, before even having one single song written. Then, the project starts from the end.

During his composition process, the world slowly changed. That catastrophic view in his mind became in some way real and then Equanimity was shaped through a mix of intuition and a lack of perspective about the future. He decided to turn the feeling experienced into music, having the lost city view (the end of the world) as a background. Viktor was isolated, then the project became a one-man project (without a fixed band). Meeting online was common, then the guests collaborated also online. The beauty was out of the news, then mixing poetry and jazz seemed to be appropriate.

The concept of Equanimity was built as a storytelling book, where the feeling (and view) was developed via an uncertain approach. Therefore, all kinds of unconventional instrumentations were set as a challenging puzzle. That was a way to figure out how to deal with the unexpected context and the outcome is not one (or a couple of) songs, instead, it was created a Jazz Tale, in musical terms. This is not an easy concept to develop an album, but what is Equanimity if not our daily challenge to keeping our balance in adverse situations.

Innovation is part of Viktor and the whole ViO project, and since jazz music has always been stretching boundaries, Viktor wanted to extend his performance and soundscape in the best possible way. In Equanimity, he used VST synthesizer, instrument setups in multitrack mode, layering a lot of sounds and playing them all, simultaneously. He also performed on his beloved EWI 4000s, which he thinks is a hugely underrated and often wrongly interpreted instrument. These instruments combined with traditional acoustic instruments (saxophone, clarinet, flute, bansuri) are all present in Equanimity.

Equanimity brings collaboration with some special musicians, the social distance was not a hurdle, the online solutions created space for creativity. Equanimity brought to Viktor the chance to collaborate with Dave King, as a big fan of The Bad Plus, that was a special moment in the album: “Dave is an amazing drummer and having him improvising and grooving with me was a kind of magical moment.” (Viktor Haraszti).

Besides the groove added by Dave, Lisa Marie Simmons shared her powerful voice and deep thoughts with Viktor. She brought poetry and mystery to the composition, besides a Shakespearean touch to the chapters. Last, but not least, Marshall Curtley played finger drums, completely ahead of his time, Marshall’s collaboration is avant-garde and the duet between finger drums and EWI is just unique.

The album holds no individual track titles. It is composed in a very organic way. The idea was never to write separate songs but more like one tale composition. To give a clear idea that all tracks are connected, then it was decided to use the terms from the literature.

Following the literature style, the Intro sets the tone and the mood of the recording, it is a kind of ''once upon a time'' translate into a song. The string arrangements can make a deep impression in a second, and a synthesizer pad is an emulation to create the vibe.

Chapter One presents the first performance of Lisa Marie Simmons as setting the main quote of the whole recording. ''everything comes, everything goes''. In this arrangement, the saxophone plays against the odds of sonic elements and a backing section. It is just like in the fairy tales when in disorienting times, the Hero arrives, and “he” needs to find his way out to deal with the first challenge.

Chapter Two is a continuation with more intriguing instruments: drums and clarinet are looking for connection in the peace. The track holds a duet with Dave King, renewed drummer of The Bad Plus. Viktor Haraszti on the clarinet and the TC-performer - a touch-sensitive synthesizer without keys on the iPad.

Chapter Three is a turning point in the arrangement and, new electric instruments are introduced, especially the EWI (electric wind instrument). The EWI collaborates with the finger drum pad, played by Marshall Curtly. The track has yet Lisa Marie Simmons's performance. Lisa wrote a poem that mainly addresses the current worldwide happenings, and it has a deep meaning with a Shakespearian hook.

Chapter Four holds Lisa Marie Simmons's second poem, Equanimity. Performed by her accompanied by Viktor Haraszti on the bansuri flute and the synthesizers. ''Everything comes, everything goes''. This quote is the main subject of the poem. The arrangement tries to refer to eastern philosophy and spirituality. This chapter creates the foreplay to Chapter Five.

Chapter Five is a continuation of the previous track, the saxophone and EWI play's a duet. Marshall Curtly plays on electric drums and shakers. The melody has a bit of an eastern vibe but rhythmically is very compact and more western. Both instruments have a solo moment, the EWI in the middle and the saxophone towards the end. That is the music turning point, and the band fades out to give space to the acoustic instruments.

Chapter Six is a sonic composition, and it has no form or melody. It is an improvisation with both, saxophone and keys, they play on top of the backing section of the horns. Accompanied by the TC-Performer's ambiance. It glues together Chapters Five and Seven.

Chapter Seven is where all comes. Voice and instruments. The music builds up and reaches the highest peak of the album that resolute towards the Epilogue, the classic end in the literature.

Epilogue (for Blue) is a short improvisation set, the final tone. The song is played on a loop machine and saxophone, a small composition that is practically impossible to play in the same way again. It symbolizes our uniqueness as living beings. The song, or the improvisation, came up after a tragic loss experience and the melody is a way to honor that circumstance, unfortunately, many people for different reasons faced tough moments over 2020/21. The Epilogue is special because is based on personal moments, and it gives Equanimity a real-life experience perspective.

In the end, Equanimity has an autobiographical touch and plays around finding out peace of mind in our chaotic and hard world. Like life, this album is unpredictable, mystery and difficult to classify or define in a music style. The best way to figure the CD out is through listening to it chapter by chapter.

Viktor Haraszti (ViO) - Tenor Saxophone, EWI, Clarinet, Flute, Bansuri, Key's, TC- Performer, Vocal

SPECIAL GUEST'S

Dave King - drums, on Chapter Two

Marshall Curtly - finger drums, on Chapter Three & Chapter Four, electric drums & shakers, on Chapter Five

Lisa Marie Simmons - spoken word, on Chapter One, Three & Four

All compositions written and produced by Viktor Haraszti

©Lyrics written by Lisa Marie Simmons

Recorded, Mixed & Mastered @ ViOmusic by Viktor Haraszti Cover Photo by Balazs Szucs

Cover Photo by Balazs Szucs ©

The album comes out on December 12th, 2021 (worldwide available)

PREORDER

Julian Lage - Squint (June 11, 2021 Blue Note)

Guitar virtuoso Julian Lage has shared “Boo’s Blues,” the second song from his Blue Note Records debut album, Squint, out June 11. The loping swing feel of “Boo’s Blues” exemplifies Lage’s ability to write with his bandmates in mind while echoing his influences: “I like to imagine this music being played by the tans of bass and drums,” Lage says. “I’m imagining Billy Higgins, I’m imagining Art Taylor, I’m imagining Wilbur Ware, even though I’m writing explicitly for Dave and Jorge.”

Squint is a striking full-length that weds incisive, expressive songwriting with the profound interplay Lage has honed over the past few years with his de trio featuring bassist Jorge Roeder and drummer Dave King (The Bad Plus). The album was heralded last month with the release of the album’s lead single “Saint Rose.” Squint is available now for pre-order on vinyl, CD, or download.

“I absolutely love improvised music, and I’ve always been fascinated by singer-songwriter music,” says Lage. “For me, the jazz that came out of Blue Note always engaged both sides of that. It had incredible improvisational vocabularies and performances, but when I think of albums from Grant Green’s Idle Moments to Joe Henderson’s Inner Urge to McCoy Tyner’s Time for Tyner with Bobby Hutcherson – all these records that I love so much also have such great songs. I felt like this was an opportunity to present new music born out of the Blue Note tradition as I’ve interpreted it.”

Lage was recently featured on the GRAMMY Museum’s COLLECTION:live interview series, watch here. The guitarist will also be continuing his popular series of masterclasses with upcoming sessions on April 11 and April 18. A 30-minute solo performance will follow each class. Tickets are available here.

Tim Berne / Chris Speed / Reid Anderson / Dave King - Broken Shadows (May 21, 2021 Intakt Records)

Broken Shadows brings together four luminaries of the American jazz scene: Tim Berne, Chris Speed, Reid Anderson and Dave King. Broken Shadows has very strong connections, intwos. Saxophonists Tim Berne and Chris Speed have been playing together since 1992; Bassist Reid Anderson and drummer Dave King – two thirds of the legendary band The Bad Plus –have been playing together for over 35 years.Named after an Ornette Coleman composition, this all-star project honors the legacy of the music of their idols and mentors Ornette Coleman, Dewey Redman, Charlie Haden and Julius Hemphill.

"Most all of the songs have melodies; infectious and singable.Songs you would want to put in your pocket and take them home.In a time of songs treated as vehicles for improvisation, with this band, the vehicle is the song", writes Branford Marsalis in the liner notes, celebrating the emotional power and impact of BrokenShadows: "Harmonic data does not create emotion; the ability to change color in ones sound does. This is something that Broken Shadows understand, be it explicit or implicit. The twelve tracks range from lamentation, or insouciant swagger, to utter joy, and all the colors in between."

1. Street Woman

2. Body

3. Toy Dance

4. Ecars

5. Civilization Day

6. Comme il Faut

7. Dogon A.D.

8. C.O.D.

9. Una Muy Bonita

10. Song for Ché

11. Walls-Bridges

12. Broken Shadows

Tim Berne: Alto Saxophone

Chris Speed: Tenor Saxophone

Reid Anderson: Bass

Dave King: Drums

Recorded and mixed by Marc Urselli May 21st and 22nd 2018 at East

Sound NYC, New York. First released 2019 vinyl only in a six records

box set on Newvelle Records (except Street Woman and Comme il

Faut). CD remastered December 2020 by Huntley Miller HM Mastering

Minneapolis.

Cover art and graphic design: Stephen Byram.

Liner notes: Branford Marsalis.

Booklet design: Fiona Ryan.

Copyright by Intakt Records, Patrik Landolt, Anja Illmaier, Florian Keller.

Pre-order

Happy Apple - Nothin' But Net: Live 1998​-​2000 (April 2021)

Celebrating the 20th anniversary of the release of our 3-disc set of live performances recorded in 1998-2000.

"Nothin' But Net" is a compilation of our favorite tracks from this never commercially available release. It also features tunes never recorded for any of the group's studio albums.

These recordings hold a special place in our hearts for both their ferocious energy and gentle introspection.

1. Are We Going Steady? 08:37

2. Computer-Aided Drafting 05:52

3. Waystation 1976 08:56

4. 1996 A.D. 05:07

5. The Bon Jovi Remasters 05:05

6. Randall's Hope 10:57

7. Marvin Says 13:13

8. A Drone for Bruiser Reynolds 29:20

Michael Lewis - saxophones

Erik Fratzke - electric bass

Dave King - drums

Recorded live to DAT by Dave DeSantis at various locations in Minneapolis/St. Paul.

Mastered by Ev Olcott

Tracks 1,3,4,6 & 8 by Dave King (Franz Kline In The Dunk Tank Music/BMI)

Tracks 2 & 5 by Erik Fratzke (Commercial Ascension Music/ASCAP)

Track 7 by Mike Lewis (Songish/ASCAP)

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Craig Taborn - Daylight Ghosts (ECM 2017)

Keyboardist Craig Taborn’s Daylight Ghosts is the Minneapolis-bred New Yorker’s third ECM release as a leader, a quartet album following the solo Avenging Angel and trio disc Chants. Both projects earned wide acclaim, with The Guardian saying that Taborn’s “musicality and his attention to detail are hypnotic, as is his remarkable sense of compositional narrative within an improvised performance.” Along with the questing Taborn on piano and electronic keyboards, the quartet of Daylight Ghosts features two other luminaries from the New York scene – reed player Chris Speed and bassist Chris Lightcap – plus drummer Dave King, the leader’s fellow Minnesota native and one-third of alt-jazz trio The Bad Plus. Each player draws from a broad artistic background, as informed by rock, electronica and diverse strains of world music as they are the various permutations of jazz improvisation. Dynamism and spectral ambience, acoustic and electric sounds, groove and lingering melody – all come together to animate Daylight Ghosts.

1. The Shining One 3:34

2. Abandoned Reminder 7:46

3. Daylight Ghosts 7:36

4. New Glory 3:14

5. The Great Silence 5:37

6. Ancient 8:15

7. Jamaican Farewell 5:39

8. Subtle Living Equations 4:31

9. Phantom Ratio 8:29

Craig Taborn (piano, electronics)

Chris Speed (tenor saxophone, clarinet)

Chris Lightcap (double bass, bass guitar)

Dave King (drums, electronic percussion)

Dave King Trucking Company - Surrounded by the Night (2016) SUNNYSIDE RECORDS

Prolific drummer/composer Dave King is well known for his propulsive work in a number of different bands. From The Bad Plus to Happy Apple to Halloween, Alaska, each group has its own sound and approach, but all are approached in a steadfast manner. These groups are all serious units of focused players who are completely dialed in, honing a solid band sound and identity. It is King’s attraction to a strong group concept that led to his creation of his Trucking Company band and his increasing focus thereon. 

On its third recording, Surrounded By The Night, the Trucking Company has solidified its identity with new material and a slightly changed lineup. The addition of the Minneapolis born, Brooklyn based bassist Chris Morrissey strengthens the Minnesota-New York connection that has been part of the identity of the ensemble, featuring the saxophone (and clarinet!) of Brooklynite Chris Speed alongside Minnesotans saxophonist Brandon Wozniak and guitarist Erik Fratzke, since its inception. 

The Trucking Company was born out of the necessity to play out and out songs, music stemming from Dave and Co.’s love of jazz and the avant-garde but also rock, country and blues music. Their unique sound comes from the commingling of these influences along with the distinct instrumentation of two tenor saxes, guitar, bass and drums. All of the members have a jazz pedigree but it is their pop sensibilities that make them perfectly suited for this song-oriented ensemble. 

The dual saxes allow for a singular choral sound, especially on passages where Speed, who King hears as Lester Young playing avant-garde, and Wozniak, a muscular hard bop devotee, play in unison. The effect is a widening of tone based on the microtonal differences between the two players, not dissimilar to the doubling of voice that Peter Gabriel utilizes on his records. Needless to say, Gabriel never had Fratzke, whose guitar playing can range from thoughtful strums to a powerful thrash. 

The drive of the Trucking Company has renewed King’s confidence in the music. The group can handle anything that he throws at it, including his difficult charts that are memorized for performance. If it was required of the road worn legends of the past, it should be required of as seasoned musicians as are found here. 

Of course, the Trucking Company lends itself to King’s favorite brands of Americana. The group’s name speaks to romantic notions of Brylcreem and the lonesome highway. The title Surrounded By The Night has a certain Bruce Springsteen je ne sais quoi. So naturally, the music, which mainly stems from King’s pen, is meant to have cinematic, Midwestern, big sky sensibilities. 

The recording begins with “Delta Kreme,” a tune that blends bouncy and melancholy and takes its name from the title of a William Eggleston photo, which depicts a wholly American setting of a Cutlass fronting a Southern burger shack. The tricky “Parallel Sister Track” utilizes an ethereal melody in the horns, not to mention fantastic solos, over a seemingly disconnected rhythm section. Fratzke’s “You Should Be Watching (Art) Films” showcases the composer’s humor and guitar mastery in a bouncy jazz tune, along with outstanding performances from both Speed and Morrissey. 

Harkening back to the trucking motif, “Blue Candy” is named for one of the tools big rig drivers use to stay awake on the road: speed. Evocative of a late night haul, the tune happens to be one of the earliest pieces written for the group. The rocking “Glamour Shot” takes its energy from English pop music of the 80s, conjuring The Cure and New Order, with the addition of some odd chord progressions, clarinet and a great Wozniak tenor solo. 

“That Isn’t Even Worth Selling” is an older piece that appears on the first Happy Apple record and that is brought back in an unashamed, swinging Ornette Coleman vibe with a deep bass solo from Morrissey. The recording concludes righteously with “Don’t Be Suspect Of A Gift,” proving that going out with a fist pumping display of triumphant energy is always a good way to go. 

The Dave King Trucking Company is now onto their third recording. Surrounded By The Night is a milestone for this ensemble that has really coalesced into a hardworking, super-solid unit that can swing, rock and otherwise.

1. Delta Kreme 02:55

2. Parallel Sister Track 06:24

3. You Should Be Watching (Art) Films 07:19

4. Blue Candy 07:19

5. Glamour Shot 04:07

6. That Isn't Even Worth Selling 03:57

7. Don't Be Suspect Of A Gift 04:20

Dave King - drums & cymbals

Erik Fratzke - electric guitar

Chris Morrissey - acoustic bass

Chris Speed - tenor sax & clarinet

Brandon Wozniak - tenor sax